While wider political tensions dominated much of the agenda and continue to cause potential headaches for airlines, it was the return of a familiar problem in the shape of rising fuel prices that did the most to knock airlines from their high-profit altitude during 2018.

Akbar Al Baker has probably just endured the toughest 12 months of his lengthy reign at Qatar Airways Group. Just as the airline marked 20 years with Al Baker at the helm, it faced the sudden and sweeping airspace blockade forcing a rapid network restructure, the suspension of services to 18 destinations and lengthy flight re-routings, particularly those to Africa.

When Flybe put itself on sale earlier this month it looked like it might end up as a one horse race, with previous suitor Stobart expected to make a fresh bid for the UK regional carrier. But Virgin Atlantic's disclosure that it is also considering making an offer adds an intriguing new dynamic to the sale process.

When the UK government announced in June that members of parliament had voted in favour of building a third runway at London Heathrow, it threw in the caveat that final development consent would be granted only if the expansion could be delivered within the country's existing air-quality obligations.